With newsisfree.com and some other sites you can generate rss feeds for free republic.
I hope you don't meet the fate of Arthur McGowen....
Doesn't the pager do what you want? You don't have to be on FR for the pager to let you know you have pings or mail, I don't think. I haven't used it for a few years, tho.
This used to work:
http://www.dev1.eraserver.net/PACIFICA/FreeRSS/Index.xml
If you press the button, it will allow you to bookmark the RSS feed as a dynamic folder
with 15 of the latest threads posted on FR.
I have my Free Republic RSS folder right on my toolbar,
I can open, view and read threads 15 at a time, instantly.
You can open just one, or all 15 threads at once by selecting 'open in tabs'.
You can also refresh the RSS folder as often as you like, it's total insanity.
I will not be held responsible for the results of sharing this freeping style,
as it could potentially create even more 'freeper widows' out there...
My wife declared herself one a few weeks ago. Soooooo, I am gonna be going now...